Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-09-12

mere fact that a railroad company
of the importance and standing OF
the Baltimore and Ohio had arranged with
bankers for the sale of S., ,000, 900 Of its 5
per cent. onsolidated bonds and S., 600, :
600 of preferred stock for the purpose Of
discharging a floating debt of about $40, :
900, 900 would not be remarkable, and
while this floating debt was doubtless
| troublesome and would have had to be
funded sooner or later, exaggerated views
regarding the condition and possible
fate of the company need no very serious
consideration. The real import Of
the matter hes in the conditions
annexed to the sale. After providing
for the verifcation Of all statements it is
provided, according to the brief published
announcement. that 'the management of
the company shall be placed in competent
hands satisfactory to the syndicate" This
is generally assumed to imply that Mr..
Garrett, in accordance with his own known
wishes, will retire from the active manage
ment, but the announcement that the
syndicate would select one Of several we'll
know railroad men and place him at
the head of the company seems to be
an error. What seems to be intended is
that the personal dictatorship which has
prevailed in the company shall cease and
Its affairs be administered upon the lines
OF ordinary business management. In this
connection, and in fact throughout the
transaction, it must be remembered that
there are other important interests in the
company besides that OF the Garrett fam
lily, and that such large stockholders as
the State of Maryland and the city of Bal
timore, together with the Johns Hopkins
University, have voice both in the selec-
tion of the management and the policy Of
the company, and that these interests
would stand decidedly in the way of any
such complete subordination Of the COM
pany to outside interests rs Wall street
seems at first TO have imagined.
The gist Of the matter is, however, the
provisions that the Baltimore and Ohio
shall make satisfactory contracts with the
trunk-line railroads, and that its prior an
fagonism towards them shall give place TO
harmonious relations, which, Of course,
comprehends the abandonment by the
company of its position of independence as
regards the other trunk lines and It's Co
operation in the maintenance OF rates
through the organization for that purpose,
which, since the Interstate law went into
force, has succeeded the trunk-line pool.
Last in order is an equally important
clause, to the effect that the company
shall avoid the construction, or threat OF
construction, of extensive parallel lines
north and east of Philadelphia. Imply
ing, rs this does, the abandonment OF an
independent line from Philadelphia to
Staten Island, it at once raises the pre-
sumption that an agreement must exist
by which the company will Sc
cure an entrance to New York over
either the Pennsylvania or the Reading
jersey Central lines. Though harmonious
relations with the Pennsylvania are evil
IDENTIFY intended, the most natural result
would seem to be that the Reading and Jer-
sey Central should afford the Baltimore &
Ohio an outlet north OF Philadelphia. The
disposition OF the Staten Island terminals is
also question of some interest. 1t seems
certain that the line which has been graded
but not completed by the Baltimore & Ohio
from Bound Brook, Nj, to ElizabethpOrt,
where the bridge over the Kills is now in
course Of construction, will be abandoned,
and connection made with the proposed
bridge from the Jersey Central lines. 1t
seems improbable that the Staten Island
terminus will be made use of by the Bal
fillmore and Ohio exclusively, and there is,
indeed, grounds for the idea that the ter
minal facilities at Jersey City, for both
passenger and freight business Of the Balti-
more and Ohio, may be supplied by the
Pennsylvania or the jersey Central, while
the Staten Island terminals, if utilized in
the near future, may be thrown open to all
lines terminating at New York on the west
side of the Hudson.